There has been some sort of oversight. No one told me about end of school mayhem. Perhaps someone should have let me know. Not that "time would fly" or "it will be over before you know it"...but someone should have waved a large sign saying "forget doing anything the last few weeks of school other than school activities, homework and those desperate attempts to get last minute 'things' done."
Someone could have warned me that my knitting plans would not just be hampered or postponed but completely and totally derailed. They know how important knitting time is, right?!
So, in the midst of the mayhem, before pulling my head out of the sand, I really wanted to join a Knit A Long (KAL). My plan was for a shawl or a cardigan for the summer.
You all can stop laughing now.
Those plans crashed and burned so I was desperate for something to knit. Everyone is saying, "Well why don't you knit socks?"
I have a secret...
I have not enjoyed knitting socks. Eek, I know it is knitting heresy but hear me out. Due to the size of the needles and the size of adult feet you are knitting about the same amount of stitches for a worsted weight sweater. So to put all that effort into something that doesn't show -- and frankly I would only wear half the year down here in the South -- it just wasn't worth it for me.
Not to mention you knit the pattern once and then get to do it all over again, without the surprise, and hope that they match. Thus we have a severe case of second sock syndrome. I have tried two at a time (TAAT), magic loop, double pointed needles, you name it...no joy.
So here enters the KAL held by The Grocery Girls Podcast which is hosted by some lovely Canadians Traci and her sister Jodi of Mrs. Browns Bags. They had the excellent idea to use knitting socks "to help you learn a new technique."
I have already given the tried and true methods a go which only left the extreme.
Say hello to the 2 in 1 sock method.
The principle is simple, especially if you have ever done any double knitting. Double knitting is basically knitting two separate fabrics at the same time on one set of needles.
The two sides of fabric can either be connected such as reversible items using two colors and a motif or they can be knit completely separate. You see this with blankets, scarves, coasters, etc. But in the fall of 2006 Knitty introduced double knitting to make one sock inside of another. Genius.
2 socks done at once...check.
Small project to carry around...check.
Interesting even when doing a vanilla sock...triple check.
And I am all in for this KAL. Now I need to go get some chocolate and figure out how to cast on.
Cheers and happy knitting!
The Knitastic Ninja
